JP McManus - backed Hopewell Rock to win A$10m

Melbourne Cup betting: JP McManus backs Hopewell Rock to win A$10m

Horse Racing

Mon November 02, 2026 · 8h ago

JP McManus backed Hopewell Rock to win A$10m at the annual Call Of the Card function ahead of Tuesday’s Lexus Melbourne Cup.

It was his first visit to the event and he staked £523,000 on the George Boughey-trained Sky Bet Ebor runner-up.

“We thought he had the best chance and we thought the odds were generous,” the legendary owner and punter told Racing.com in Australia.

And he wasn’t finished there. Alongside Paul Byrne, McManus also had A$150,000 on Joseph O’Brien’s James J Braddock to win A$3m.

“He was 20/1 or 21/1, which sounded more than fair. There’s a drop of rain out there which I don’t think will inconvenience him. I thought he was maybe a bit over the odds,” he explained.

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Other McManus bets included Soul Of Spain at 33/1, Zakouma at 40/1 and his own Goodie Two Shoes at 25/1.

“I just thought they represented a bit of value and I got into the swing of things!” he smiled.

Regarding the event in general, McManus added: “It’s something different, I think we can learn from it but I don’t know if anything like this will ever happen in Britain or Ireland, but it certainly adds to the occasion and creates a lot of excitement. It’s a lot of publicity and I only wish they’d do it elsewhere."

McManus will be doubly-represented in the race with Trustyourinstinct joining last year’s runner-up Goodie Two Shoes in the contest.

“Both have had great preparations, they’ve had no hic-ups along the way. They’ve travelled down well and settled in well. It’s been their target for some time so should they not win, we have no excuses,” he said.

“Goodie Two Shows gave us an enormous thrill last year. I was watching in Barbados when it ran and when I saw the excitement afterwards I said ‘listen, we have to get involved in this, this is something different'."

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